Wrote: Festim Rizanaj
In the local elections held on October 12, 2025 in Kosovo, the Serbian List managed to win nine municipalities in Serb-majority areas, without a runoff. Meanwhile, in the municipality of Kllokot, according to preliminary results from the Central Election Commission, the race remains open as a runoff will be held between the Serbian List candidate and the other Serb party, Srpska Narodna Sloga.
Following the local elections in Kosovo, Serbian officials and media outlets distributed statements and articles promoting several main narratives:
- ""Victory as a guarantee for the survival of Serbs in Kosovo": Politicians like Petar Petkovic and Milorad Dodik present the Serb List result as a certainty that the Serb community will continue to exist and have control over Serb-majority municipalities.
- "Abolition of Kurti's apartheid": Various media and politicians, including Zoran Andjelković, present the participation of Serbs in the elections as an act that overthrows the "unilateral Kurti regime" and his discriminatory policy towards Serbs in northern Kosovo.
- ""The unity of Serbs and the support of Belgrade": The narrative that highlights that the victory of the Serbian List is the result of the unity of Serbs and direct support from Serbia and President Aleksandar Vučić.
- "The failure of Kurti's policy and Pristina's institutions": The narrative portrays Prime Minister Albin Kurti as weakened and lost in the confrontation with the Serbian people, presenting the victory of the Serbian List as a victory over the "pressure and unilateral policy" of the Kosovo Government.
- ""Victory as a referendum on Serbia's legitimacy": The narrative that interprets the vote for the Serbian List not only as a local result, but as a support for Belgrade's policy and influence in Kosovo.
- ""The massive turnout in the elections": The emphasis on the record participation of Serbs in the elections, presented as a symbol of the strength and unity of the Serb community, has been used to justify the political legitimacy of the Serbian List.
- "Warning of Pristina's actions after the elections": The narrative that prepares the ground to portray Kosovo institutions as obstacles that will attempt to restrain the actions of Serbian mayors and limit local government, presenting every obstacle as "proof of Kurti's tyranny."
Narratives from Serbian officials and media
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić was the first to announce the victory of the Srpska Lista in nine of the ten Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo, presenting the result as a triumph of Serbian national unity. In his statement to the Serbian television station Pink, Vučić stressed that 57.786 Serb voters had turned out in these elections – 3.600 more than in the parliamentary elections in February – interpreting this as evidence of strong support for the Srpska Lista. Vučić specifically mentioned Gračanica as an example of “Serbian resistance”, claiming that “even the efforts of Albanians to influence the result” had failed to change the outcome. His statement conveyed a clear political narrative: that the victory of the Srpska Lista represented Serbia’s success in the face of “pressure from Pristina” and proved that “Serbia cannot be easily destroyed”. In this way, the electoral result was used to strengthen the narrative of Belgrade’s control over the Serbian community in Kosovo and to present Serb participation in the elections as a return of “their legitimate institutions” under Serbian influence. (here)
A day after the local elections in Kosovo, the director of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government, Petar Petkovic, described the victory of the Serbian List as “a guarantee of the survival and future of the Serbian people in Kosovo.” In an appearance on Pink Television, he described the result as evidence of “the unification of Kosovo Serbs with central Serbia and with President Aleksandar Vučić,” presenting the Serbian List as an instrument of national defense under the leadership of Belgrade.
Petkovic linked this victory to “the return of Serbs to their municipalities in northern Kosovo” and “the end of the rule of Kurti’s Gauleiter”, specifically mentioning Leposavic as an example of “the overthrow of mayors established by Pristina”. He accused the Kosovo government of “political terrorism, arrests and discrimination against Serbs”, portraying the situation as a battle for freedom and identity. In essence, his statements fed Belgrade’s familiar narrative: that the Serbian List and Serbia have the only legitimate role in representing Kosovo Serbs, while the elections were interpreted as a failure of Albin Kurti’s policies and a return of full Serbian influence in the north of the country. (here)
The President of the Republika Srpska in BiH, Milorad Dodik, joined the reactions from Belgrade by congratulating the Serbian List on its victory in the October 12 local elections in Kosovo. In a post on the “X” platform, he described this result as “a guarantee for the stability and survival of the Serbian people in Kosovo” and as a sign that “the Serbs there will decide for themselves about their future”. According to Dodik, “the Serbs in Kosovo courageously showed what loyalty and trust in their homeland mean, winning through their invincible unity”. He called this process “the defeat of the Kurti regime” and at the same time sent congratulations to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on the “great victory”, presenting the Serbian List as representatives of the national will of the Serbs. This statement further reinforced the coordinated political narrative between Belgrade and Banja Luka, which interprets the electoral result not as a local democratic process, but as a strategic victory of Serbia over the Kosovo government and as a symbol of Serbian unity in all “national spaces.” (here)
Following the announcement of the preliminary results of the October 12 local elections in Kosovo, Serbian media close to the government constructed several powerful political narratives to interpret the victory of the Serbian List in Serb-majority municipalities. One of the most widespread was the one with the title “Srbi olovkom ukinuli Kurtijev apartheid” (Serbs with a pencil removed Kurti’s apartheid), published on “alo.rs”, which presented the participation of Serbs in the elections as an act of liberation from “Kurti’s regime”. This framing was accompanied by statements such as that of politician Zoran Anđelković, who told the Serbian news agency “Tanjug” that Serbs “with a pencil have removed the apartheid that Kurti had established in northern Kosovo, with the support of the Quint countries”. According to him, “Kurti’s rule with 3 percent over 97 percent Serbs” constituted “a form of apartheid,” while the massive turnout in the elections showed “the strength of the Serbian community and the trust in Aleksandar Vučić’s politics.” (here)
In another article published on “alo.rs”, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Internal Affairs in Serbia, Milovan Drecun, praised the victory of the Serbian List in the October 12 local elections in Kosovo as a “sign of the political maturity of Serbs” and a guarantee of their survival in Kosovo. He stated that the Serbian List remains “the only link to the state of Serbia” and accused the government of Albin Kurti of “unilateral policies that are harmful to the lives of Serbs”, claiming that it is pursuing “goals of militarization and Albanianization” through pressure, displacement and the purchase of Serbian lands. According to Drecun, “regardless of possible changes in power in Pristina, these policies will continue”, while saying that Serbia will remain the main source of support for municipalities with a Serb majority. (here)
An analysis published in Kurir.rs titled “The Return of Serb Mayors to the North of Kosovo: Pristina Will Stop Them Through Control of the Police, Cadastre, Justice and Finances”) addresses the situation after the victory of the Serbian List in nine out of ten municipalities with a Serb majority in the local elections of October 12, 2025. (here)
According to the analysis, although the Serb community has restored its legitimate representatives in northern Kosovo, the Kosovo government has maintained control over key institutions such as the police, cadastre, justice and finance, limiting the real power of local government. Political scientist Ognjen Gogić emphasizes that “the new mayors are not returning to the previous state”, as Kosovo has put in place mechanisms to limit employment, budgets and local decision-making. Meanwhile, analyst Srgjan Barac calls this development a “new phase of administrative and symbolic pressures”, warning of the possibility of provocations and security incidents. He underlines that the stability and restraint of the new Serb mayors will be crucial to maintaining the unity of the community and strengthening Serbia’s position in the dialogue with Kosovo.